News from the Mets today as single game tickets for all games at Citi Field will go on sale Monday March 5th at 10AM on Mets.com and at (718) 507-TIXX.

Tomorrow the Mets will put on sale three news ticket packages at 10AM on Mets.com and at (718) 507-TIXX. Here are the details of these packages:

6-Game Marquee Flex Pack

Fans can secure tickets to Opening Day (April 5) or one of the Subway Series games at Citi Field (June 22-24) before individual game tickets go on sale. Choose Opening Day or one of the Subway Series games at the regular price, then select five other games at a savings off the established box office price.

6-Game Value Flex Pack

The price of a ticket in this pack starts at $9 per game or $54 per pack for any six games other than Opening Day or the Subway Series. Quantities are limited with availability in select sections of Baseline Box, Caesars Box, and Promenade Reserved seating categories.

Mr. Met Dash Pack

For three or more Mr. Met Dash games, every regularly priced adult ticket purchased through this special pack can add up to three children 12 and under for $10 each per game. Kids can run the bases after the game during the Mr. Met Dash on the following Sundays: April 22, May 6, June 17, July 8, August 12, and August 26.

Last week, the Mets launched the Banner Day Pack to mark the return of the longtime Mets tradition on Sunday, May 27 against the San Diego Padres. The five-game pack starts at $50 and also includes games against the San Francisco Giants (Saturday, April 21), Cincinnati Reds (Friday, June 15) and Miami Marlins (Thursday, August 9 and Friday, September 21).

The sad part of the Mets career of Carlos Beltran was just when he was enjoying being a NY Met and having the fan base sing praise and glory to his name, it was time to go. Just when he felt secure that the front office and the field manager were 100 % behind him and treated him with the respect he deserved, it was time to go. With all the retrospect of Beltran’s career as a Met and with all the high (and deserved) praise that Beltran has received this season the bottom line is, it was time to go.

Beltran lived up to the hype and money of his 7 year deal. I love the irony displayed by many in the fan base, the same ones who vilified Beltran for taking a third strike in the 2006 NLCS (forgetting he hit .296/.387/.667 with 3 home runs against the Cardinals in that series) and labeled him soft even after the horrific collision he had with Mike Cameron in San Diego on August 11th 2005 and returned to action on August 17th , just missing six games.

Beltran was not betrayed just by the fans but by ownership and the previous front office as well. When it came to handling the serious knee injuries he suffered, the training staff, GM and owner botched things so badly that Beltran felt he had to go and get his knees worked on his own. When he found a doctor who told him he needed surgery and he needed it now, Beltran and his agent Scott Boras went through all the proper channels to get medical clearance from the Mets doctors (who get wrongfully maligned) and the trainer and GM to get the right insurance papers signed, it was the GM (who has always been portrayed as a standup guy but really wasn’t) that tried to spin it as Beltran going rogue.

I’ve always felt that Beltran had this reserved way about him due to his mistrust and mistreatment by the former GM, managers and the owner. It wasn’t until Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins showed him the veteran respect he had earned that he felt more like a vital part of the team. In return, Beltran was able to be as productive as he was as he knew the days of bullshit artists running the team were over.

Alderson and Collins saw just how hard Beltran worked to get back in shape to get back on the playing field. Collins saw Beltran strap on that knee brace game after game and fighting the manager whenever he wanted to give him a day off. It’s a simple situation, when players see a manager have their back, they will run through hot coals for him or in Beltran’s case thank him for his trust and belief in him by being the star baseball player that he is.

Sandy Alderson did what he had to do, at the age of 34, on the last year of his deal and with a knee that will never get better and a team while playing good and inspired baseball that will not be a post season participant, trading Beltran to a team in the post season hunt made tons of sense. The fact that Alderson got back exactly what he wanted in Zack Wheeler, a top pitching prospect, makes it all the better.

We will all miss Beltran and his familiar “El Esta Aqui” walk up song but don’t feel sorry for Beltran. He joins a team on which he will make a difference and a team that has strong pitching that is built for the post season. Hopefully the Giants repeat and Beltran gets a World Series ring.

As for Mets fans, anyone who feels this team is not worthy of buying a ticket to watch at Citi Field or to follow on SNY and WFAN, just admit to yourself you’re not a Mets fan. How could you call yourself a Mets fan and not be thrilled with the play of this 2011 edition? The last two seasons the cry from Metsaptania was “play the kids, play the kids, we want the kids” Well, the kids are here and the kids are all right. Sure not being in a pennant race sucks but when you have a team that plays hard, never quits, handles adversity great, you should be proud of that team. Stop listening and reading the NYC MSM who for some reason (ownership maybe?) tries to focus on the blemishes of this team. Those same media types will be jumping on the Mets bandwagon in the next year or two when the Mets are fighting for a post season berth. This Beltran deal hurts the MSM because it was a positive for the Mets and finally not since Frank Cashen and his bow tie ran this club has a GM made as much an impact as Sandy Alderson has on the Mets. Don’t forget Terry Collins as well, who has not only shown that a man can learn from his past failures but he has shut up the We Want Wally Backman Teabaggers as well. As much as I was a Backman fan, there is no way he could have done any better than Collins has done this year.

There is a bit of a 1984 feeling around Flushing these days and if next year has a 1985 feeling, well, all you folks not going to Citi Field will be shit out of luck next year when Citi Field will be THE place to be and your ass can’t find a seat to sit in.

So the doctors said David Wright could resume baseball activity in six weeks. The Mets thought that meant six weeks from the time the injury occurred. But the doctors say no, six weeks from the time of the diagnosis. What we have here is a breakdown of communication (just like in season’s past which was supposed to end with Sandy Alderson as boss) or Alderson was using Abbot and Costello math.

Either way when the worst news of the night isn’t the fact that the team has become the first team in the history of MLB to lose six games at home while having a lead after seven innings but that your nice kid somewhat of a superstar third baseman has suffered the first major injury of his career and won’t be back until maybe after the All-Star break well, “you’re snake bitten baby”

Gary Cohen said last night, there are reasons the Mets blow these leads late in the game and it’s the difference between good teams and bad teams. It may be a cliché but it’s true the little mistakes add up to turn wins into losses. Whether it’s Daniel Murphy’ lack of instinct on the base paths, or Izzy coming in a game with two outs and walking a struggling Dan Uggla, Josh Thole unable to stop a pitch in the dirt (again) and Jose Reyes picking the worst time ever to make an error, it all adds up to failure.

Terry Collins was quite calm after the game. Maybe he’s come to the realization there are some things a manger can’t dictate, like instinct .

A stellar outing by Big Plef went for nothing as the once potent Mets bullpen has turned into a pumpkin. Wasn’t just a few weeks ago, we just hoped for 6 good innings from the Mets starters so the bullpen could cement a win? That’s all changed in the last six games as Mets relievers have gone 0-3 with a 12.46 ERA.

With the news of Gary Carter’s fight with cancerous brain tumors isn’t it time for someone in the Mets organization step up NOW and announce that the club will retire his #8? Not next season either, DO IT NOW. Make a day in July or August for Gary Carter Day. Retire The Kid’s 8 and give out Mets t-shirts with CARTER 8 on the back. I’m sure Mr. Hedge Fund guy can flip that bill on 40,000 Haines shirts.

That’s it for me , after freezing my ass off all winter, time to shut the computer and suck up the rays.

Has there ever been two groups so closely aligned but such poplar opposites like Mets fans and Mets management? The one thing both groups have in common is they both root for the Mets to win (as inept as ownership is they want to win, they don’t have a clue as to how to accomplish that but they want to win) and that’s where the similarities end.

Mets fans are furious with the way this team has gone into the shitter on this past road trip. If your fans are going to stay up until 1AM then goddamnit we want a win. But with the anemic offense and the bumbling managerial tactics, this was one of the worst west cost trips ever for the Mets.

When the team left Flushing after losing four of six games to the Reds and Braves, we figured the All-Star break would be a good tonic for the club to recharge and get rested for the second half before the start of an 11 game West Coast road trip. I think we all felt if the Mets could go 6-5 on this trip that would be great. The road has been a house of horrors for the team all year but this would be a test for the team and a good trip would solidify the Mets as a true contender in the NL. Who knew that the 11 game trip would turn into Armageddon!

So from optimism, we Mets fans have turned into an angry mob, something we’ve gotten very good at the last couple of seasons, and we want a body. Someone has to be sacrificed, but who?

There’s talk of Howard Johnson getting either fired or reassigned in the organization. HoJo is a Mets lifer but quite frankly firing HoJo is just window dressing. In fact firing any of the coaches makes no sense as it’s not coaches’ fault this team can’t hit. So that leaves the manager.

If any coach gets the boot, and Jerry Manuel gets to stay on then that is just an insult to Mets fans and a good reason for them to keep their credit cards in their pocket and to stay off Mets.com to but tickets. The news I would like to see today is Ken Oberkfell named as interim manager, then reassign HoJo to manage Buffalo and leave the rest of the staff intact.

After the season, then it will be time for an organization wide colonic. Reassign Omar Minaya to head of scouting, in fact give his a fancy title like Czar of Player Development and Scouting and make it like it’s a real important high fluent position that will shape the feature of the franchise and then go out find a GM who is not locked in the dark ages. A guy who understands that statistical analysis is a must for success but can also meld that in with good old fashion boots on the ground scouting.

Seems to me, Bobby Valentine is kind of forcing the Mets hand to make some sort of move by throwing his hat in the ring to succeed Lou Pinella in Chicago. Most Mets fans are split between Bobby V and Wally Backman as to who they’d like see manage the Mets and with BV open politicking for the Cubs job he’s let it be known he’s more than ready for a high profile managing position.

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